Blog & Podcast

Steve & I are currently enjoying the sights of Italy in particular Milan & now Lake Garda in preparation for Steve's sister's wedding in the beautiful lake side town of Malcesine. Travelling is one of our highest values & one of the reasons we run online businesses.

However, the trip didn't get off to the best of starts on Friday, because as you may have seen in the news, we were caught up in the baggage belt break down in Gatwick North terminal affecting multiple flights, including ours.

Now, this could have put a real dampener to the start of the trip, however with some perspective I felt there were lessons in this situation we can all learn from, especially when it comes to building our businesses...

1. Systems can & will break (especially when you least want them to, this was a busy bank holiday weekend of flights!) - you need a good Plan B & processes in place to deal with situations like this. Always be thinking of the 'what if' & put in place procedures that are easy to follow & can be communicated easily to your team.

2. Good communication is critical - simple apologies can also go a long way, but also ensuring your customers are kept informed is so simple these days. Using your social media platforms or customer contact information to communicate quickly & effectively can save a lot of grief later dealing with customer complaints. And may even provide a great opportunity to turn a bad situation, into a good one, by showing your customers you genuinely care & are willing to go above & beyond.

3. Let go - also be aware of what you can't control & remember to let go & enjoy the journey & the process. There will be times when things don't always go to plan, but if you can learn from these & grow as an entrepreneur & person along the way, all the better.